1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dental prosthetics and, in particular, to a ceramic/metallic abutment for use with a dental implant as part of a prosthodontic restoration.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dental implants are commonly used as anchoring members in prosthodontic restorations to provide prosthetic teeth at one or more edentulous sites in a patient's dentition at which the patient's original natural teeth have been lost or damaged. Typically, known implant systems include a dental implant made from a suitable biocompatible material, such as titanium. The dental implant is typically threaded into a bore which is drilled into the patient's mandible or maxilla at the edentulous site. The implant provides an anchoring member for a dental abutment, which in turn provides an interface between the implant and a dental restoration. The restoration is typically a porcelain crown fashioned according to known methods to replicate the shape of the tooth being replaced.
Many current dental implant surgeries are performed in two stages. In the initial or first stage, an incision is made in the patient's gingiva at an edentulous side, and a bore is drilled into the patient's mandible or maxilla at the edentulous site, followed by threading or impacting a dental implant into the bore using a suitable driver. Thereafter, a cap is fitted onto the implant to close the abutment coupling structure of the implant, and the gingiva is sutured over the implant. Over a period of several months, the patient's jaw bone grows around the implant to securely anchor the implant in the surrounding bone, a process known as osseointegration.
In a second stage of the procedure following osseointegration, the dentist surgically reopens the gingiva at the implant site and secures an abutment and optionally, a temporary prosthesis or temporary healing member, to the implant. Then, a suitable permanent prosthesis or crown is fashioned, such as from one or more impressions taken of the abutment and the surrounding gingival tissue and dentition. In the final stage, the temporary prosthesis or healing member is removed and replaced with the permanent prosthesis, which is attached to the abutment with cement or with a fastener, for example.
Typically, abutments are made from a biocompatible metal, such as titanium, or from a ceramic material. Advantages of titanium abutments include structural strength and relative ease of manufacture. However, if recession of the gingival tissue occurs around the implant and abutment after implantation, there is the potential that a portion of the metal of the abutment beneath the crown may become exposed, such that the grey color of the titanium is visible, which is aesthetically disadvantageous.
Ceramic abutments are harder than titanium abutments, and have the additional advantage of providing a light, tooth-like color such that, in the event of gingival recession, the light color of any exposed portions of the abutment substantially match the color of the crown and appear tooth-like to preserve aesthetics.
What is needed is an abutment which is an improvement over the foregoing.